I have a friend that owns a caboose in SE PA. He needs to find a new home for it. Trying to find a railroad that won't charge and arm and leg for storage.

If that can't be found, then he is looking for moving prices using a truck and a crane.

Please private message me with any thoughts.

Thanks!

Alan -

Can you say from what railroad?

Les

Tough question. In one sense, it depends on the route to be traveled and how far. Setting the complete car with trucks on a lowboy might run from $1200 to $2000 for cranes, and double that for the unloading process. On its trucks, dependong on if it is a cupola caboose, the move might need special permits which can be costly and restrict travel to daytime hours, and Monday-Friday only. If there are clearance issues, especially for height, the car might have to be removed from the trucks, requiring rigging and blocking, and a second vehicle to move the trucks. The trucking fee itself might run from $2 to $4 per mile, with a fairly hefty minimum for time, portal to portal for the rig and driver.

Where to put it? I would not be too optimistic to have a railroad agree to give you storage space. But maybe a private industrial spur without much traffic might agree. In any location, vandalism and security will be an issue.

Bob Kutella

I know that some shortlines store cars for a fee. You might try the Georgia Southwestern, I have seen them storing cars.

Check with Kiski Junction.

Having "been there, done that" both as a short line storing cars for others and a short line having to store its own cars, if the cars are not in condition to be used in revenue service, i.e. fully interchangeable, a short line will not be interested. It is possible that if the CMO is a railfan and has excess shop trackage, space might be found for one caboose, but this would be done on a personal, friendship, basis rather than as a revenue source.

If it's been idle for a while, beware trying to move it by rail. We tried to move the last AN caboose to Pensacola by rail. We had to completely rebuild the brake system by the time we got it the 96 miles to Chattahoochee from Port St. Joe! It had been sitting for about 15 years.

ConRail's rate for track storage seemed to be $5 per track foot per year, increased by the change in the Consumer Price Index since 1989. Some other roads copied that rate.

I have not heard this option so I will suggest it now: Donate it to a museum.

I have owned a neat old vehicle for some years, but finding myself less able to store it and without a good long term plan for bringing it back into operation, and not interested in investing more money for short moves to temporary locations, I am ready to dispose of it.

If the owner of this caboose has a long term preservation plan and budget for it, it should include a final destination and use which is financially sustainable - if it means simply out of his pocket expenses to maintain the roof, paint it, and pay the mortgage and taxes on the land it is stored upon. In the long run he may be able to do more with the vehicle if it is at a legitimate museum (or a decent historic tourist railroad) where someone will care for it after he is gone away. In the meantime his budget and time can be spent in repair of the vehicle and he can enjoy the use of it on charter or revenue trains etc.

There seem to be quite a few eastern or central PA museums and tourist railroads to suggest. It may then depend on convenience to the owner and match to the group's collection policy.
O. Anderson

Meanwhile 25-45% of his repair budget is going to taxes.

Once it's donated, no more taxes. 100% of his money that goes toward the artifact is tax deductible, along with 14 cents a mile driving to the museum. No storage fees and no property tax on the land it's on.

Yes, museums scrap pieces, but not if active volunteers care about it and work on it. The donor can nail that down further by attaching an endowment to the artifact. I'm not even going to talk about the effects of a respectable posthumous donation.

Bottom line -- do you want to pay Uncle Sam for your hobby? Or have Uncle Sam pay you?